Just A Dream
by Ally R. Swan
Summary: Lucy just wants a dad that loves her and then one night she dreams of having one that would do anything to protect her. One-Shot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time or any of its characters. Everything belongs to ABC & Disney.**

* * *

Lucy's POV

I was sitting alone in the cafeteria at school. It was lunch-time. I just wanted to be alone as I was having a terrible day. It had been career day at school and everybody's parents had come to talk about their jobs. Everyone had their moms and dads come in to talk about their cool jobs. Some of my classmate's parents had cool jobs like firefighter, doctor, and even a microbiologist. And there was my mom who works at a cashier at a fast food restaurant. It wasn't really her job in comparison to everybody else that was getting me down—even though a lot people had laughed when she shared her job after Trisha's dad, whom was a surgeon. I didn't really care what my mom did, but what got me down is after my mom shared, everyone kept asking me where my dad is and what he does. I had no answer. I didn't have a dad, as far as I knew. My mom never talked about him and I knew next to nothing about him. Though I love my mom, I couldn't help but sometimes wish I had a dad; especially now. In ballet class, next week, they are having a father-daughter dance and I am going to be the only one without a father. My teacher had come up to me and asked me if my father was going to come and I had to explain. Then, when my mom found out about the event, she offered to go in place. I didn't want to hurt her feelings but it wouldn't be the same. And I didn't want everyone staring at me because I would be the only one without a dad. I knew I would have to find a way to skip it altogether.

I picked at my food and then one of the girls from my class, Trisha, came up to me. "Your lunch looks great. I bet your mom cooked it for you at work, huh?" She remarked.

"So what?" I replied. I did not care to deal with her today. I did not like her on a good day. She liked to be rude and mean to me for no reason. I don't know why she has to be. I was never once mean or rude to her.

"I just feel bad for you." Trisha said. "I mean, the only parent you have works a job like my brother has been for two years. I am sure he gets paid more than her." She laughed slightly. "I mean, how do you guys even afford anything? Well besides the free food bit—though if you eat too much you'll get fat and nobody likes fat people." She added.

"We don't buy unnecessary things. Like those hats you insist on wearing all the time." I retaliated. I was trying to ignore her but she kept intentionally trying to make me listen to her.

"At least I look good." Trisha said. "Maybe if you could do the same, you'd have a daddy who wants you." I dropped my fork at that one. I was starting to feel angry. "He was probably disappointed when he saw you and that's why he isn't around." That one hurt and I felt like I could cry.

"That's not true." I protested.

"You know it is, Luce. If it isn't true, why isn't here around?" She taunted. "Let's face it, he isn't here because he doesn't love you." I looked at her and though I knew I should be the better person, but after what she said, I didn't care anymore. I slapped her and she looked at me, surprised. Probably because I didn't usually respond like that. But she deserved it.

"Lucille!" I heard a teacher, whom was probably supervising. I knew I was in trouble and not just because she called me 'Lucille'. I knew I shouldn't have done it but I was so angry. But also it was more than that. I knew she was just trying to get a rise out of me. Trisha was the girl that just liked being mean for fun—and only to me—but a part of me wondered if it were true. If I had a dad that loved me, wouldn't he be around? My mom never talked about him and acted strange the few times I had asked. I still had no idea who he was; not even his name. I knew there could be a hundred different reasons to why he wasn't around, but I just wondered if the reason was that he didn't care about me; what if it is true my dad doesn't love me?

* * *

I got a stern talking to by the principal and since the parents—most of them—had stuck around through lunch, I received a cold look from Trisha's parents. I only glanced briefly in their direction but I saw. Though honestly, I am pretty sure I could have done worse than giving her a slap. I can't believe I got all this for that. I am pretty sure I heard Roni tell multiple stories where she gave people blood noses and she said that was a kindness. I knew what I did was wrong, but in my defense there are worse things I could have done and she had it coming. My mom showed up shortly after Trisha and her parents had left. They couldn't let me go anywhere until my mom came to get me. I felt bad that caused her to have to leave work, especially since she already took time off to be here earlier. I knew how her boss could be, so my talking to about what happened was only going to be worse. _Great job, Lucy. _

"Let's go." My mom urged, sternly, after she had finished talking to the principal and the teacher who saw what I did. My head sagged as I got up from the seat. I dragged my feet and looked to the ground as we walked out. As we walked out, I waited for the silence to break and it didn't for a while. Not once we were outside. Not once we were in the car. Not for the entire drive home and that made it all worse. I felt my heart beating faster as the minutes went on with it being silent. For a moment, that seemed worse than the prospect of her yelling at me. But then I remembered that once she started to talk, I knew I would have to explain and I didn't really want to.

We got back to the apartment and she slammed the door as we walked in. Sabine came out briefly. She started to say something, but I guess she took a hint and walked outside. I sat down on the couch and looked down, waiting for the yelling.

"Lucy, why—why would you do something like?" My mom asked. She wasn't yelling but I could tell she was upset; I knew she should be. "You know better."

"I know." I said softly. I did know better. But I was tired of always doing the right thing and just taking it. And with what she said, I just wanted her to stop. "But she was saying—"

"It doesn't matter what she said, Lucy. What matters is what _you did_." My mom continued on. "I'm so disappointed." That made me feel worse. And not just that she was disappointed, but because it seemed that she didn't care about my feelings.

"Now what exactly did she say to deserve that?" Now she insisted to know? I didn't want to say. And would it really even matter? Would it change how she felt about what I did? Probably not. I doubted anything would change. "Go on, Lucy, please tell me."

"Why isn't my dad around? Why won't you talk about him?" I asked.

"Lucy," My mom paused, not looking very pleased. But I doubted it was completely because I avoided asking the question. "Don't change the subject."

"You always avoid the question when I ask. Every single time and I can never get an answer." I replied. "I want to know."

"We can talk about this later. What I want to talk about now is why you hit one of your classmates." My mom again deflected the question.

"He doesn't love me." I said. That had to be it.

"What? Lucy—"

"That's why you don't want to talk about him. That's why you won't tell me anything about him. That has to be it. He is not around because he doesn't love or care about me." I said, becoming very upset, believing that Trisha had been right about that. Right now, it seemed to be the only thing that made sense.

"That's not—did that girl tell you that? Is that why—Lucy, you have to know that's not true." She said, getting on her knees and attempting to look at me. I looked away.

"Then why isn't he here? I don't know anything about him and I know if he really did care about me at all, he'd try to be here." I started to cry. "But he doesn't."

"Lucy!" I heard my mom call as I ran off to my room and slammed the door. I jumped onto my bed and sobbed into my pillow. I knew it was probably stupid to feel this way. There are people that have no parents at all. I don't have it that bad. I have a good mother. But I couldn't help but see other kids, like in my ballet class, with their dads and wish I had one; I felt jealous. And without knowing anything about mine, it just makes me wonder why he isn't here. Is it because of me?

* * *

_I didn't know where I was. I looked around and I was in this forest. I was surrounded by trees and the only sounds I could hear were of the creatures that lived there; birds mostly. A crack of sunlight hit me from in between a few trees. It was pretty here. But how did I get here? Why was I here? I shut my eyes for a moment and then suddenly I was in a castle, like a palace you see in those princess movies. I was sitting up in a bed. I looked around. This place was so strange but somehow it felt like home. _

"_Lucy!" I heard my name called and I turned to see a man, with brown hair like mine, coming towards me. "Happy birthday my princess." He said and I smiled. _

"_Daddy?" I said and he scooped me up into his arms, hugging me tight as we spun around once. He placed me down and crouched down, looking at me. "Where's mom?"_

"_Getting ready for the party. One that's perfect for my eight year old princess." He said and kissed me on the top of my forehead. "But she is coming. Don't worry."_

"_Because she is better at getting me ready." I giggled._

"_That's what moms are for." He said. _

_My mom came in a minute later and gave me a hug. Then my dad left the room, saying something about helping grandma finish setting up the party. My mom pulled out a big pink dress out of a closet and then helped me get it on. I twirled in it, watching myself in a mirror as I did so. I smiled, it looked so beautiful. I then sat down and my mother started brushing my hair out. I glanced up at her and then looked down, trying to take this all in. How did I get here? He's my dad? I thought I didn't have one. But I must. I somehow knew who he was. And looking around at all this, am I a real princess? This seems impossible. This must be a dream. But for some reason, this all felt more than just a dream._

"_Something on your mind, Luce?" My mother asks._

"_I don't know. This is just really weird." I said. "This all feels like a dream. Is this a dream?"_

"_It's very far from it." My mother confirmed. She turned me around and crouched in front of me. "What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"_

"_I dreamt I was in this other place where I didn't have a dad. It was just you and me. Your step mother was ruining our lives. We were very unhappy. It was weird. I think he wasn't there because he didn't love me." I said. _

"_Well that is definitely a dream." My mother confirmed. "Your father—and I—love you more than anything. And you know your grandmother, Lady Tremaine, would never harm you. Or any of us. Since we trapped Drizella, we came to an agreement. We are all safe here and together."_

"_Right." I said. Starting to gather my thoughts. In a way, maybe I was starting to remember. That had to be a dream. My father would never abandon me. He loves me. And my mother would never succumb to whatever her step family tried to do. I had to remember Cinderella was strong and would always fight back. She was quite the opposite of Jacinda. I can't believe I didn't realize that was the dream. Nothing seemed right. I should have figured it out. "Is it time for the party yet?"_

"_Soon." Mom said and then continued with getting me ready. She then put a necklace on my neck. "This belonged to my mother and now I want you to wear it."_

"_It's beautiful." I said, admiring the piece. _

"_My little princess and my Cinderella. The two most beautiful girls in the world." I looked back and saw my father had come back into the room._

"_Daddy!" I ran over to him and hugged him, I felt so happy that he was here with me and my mom._

"_You mean in this world." Mom chimed in._

"_In any world." Dad corrected._

"_Don't let your mother hear." My mother said, joking slightly. "Either of them. Was Emma able to make it?"_

"_No, Killian insisted she stay in Storybrooke but he and Emma send their love." He explained._

"_Grandma Emma isn't coming?" I asked frowning._

"_No, but she sent you a birthday present." My dad said. "You'll get to see it later. And anyways, the rest of us are here. Wish Hook, Aunt Tiana, Aunt Zelena, and…"_

"_And you have the better grandma here." I looked up to see my father's mother, Regina, and smiled, giggling at the comment. _

"_Grandma Regina!" I exclaimed. "Is it time for the party?"_

"_Somebody's a little antsy." Regina said, chuckling slightly. "Henry, I don't think we can hold back the princess any longer. And I think Tiana and Zelena just finished with the last touches."_

"_Okay, birthday girl, you ready?"_

_I was more than ready. We went outside and I looked in awe at the decorations and everything. There were presents and a cake. I ran over to there and attempted to touch the cake, but they stopped me. _

"_Not yet." Regina said. She lit a fireball in her hand and then lit the candles with it. "Make a wish, Lucy."_

_I looked at everyone around me and then back at the candles. I did not know what else I could wish for. I had everything I could want. I had my parents. I had a giant family with me and it seemed that I was living a happy life as a princess. I don't think there was anything in the world that could make me happier. The best thing about today was that I had my family—not to its entirety—but most of it and I felt all of its love. All that mattered was that we were together. I closed my eyes, making a wish and then I blew out the candles, opening them again. Everyone clapped and then my dad picked me up, holding me on his arm. _

"_What did you wish for?" He asks._

"_She can't say. Then it won't come true." Mom said. "Henry Mills, you should know this."_

"_But I already have it." I said. I had my family and we were together. "I have everything I want. All of you." _

_My dad kissed me on the forehead and I placed my head on his shoulder for a moment._

"_Well, I would still love to give the birthday girl my gift." Lady Tremaine said and then opened the box that had a tiara in it. "Perfect gift for my beautiful granddaughter." She placed it on my head and I smiled. I felt truly like a princess. _

"_Happy birthday Lucy." They all said again._

"_Such a shame we have to put an end to this happy day." This red haired woman spoke. I turned to see her appear in a cloud of smoke, along with a few other women. I didn't have to ask to know who they were. Father always told me stories about the witches. They told me the story when I asked about the statue in front of the castle. They told me the story of how they trapped Drizella in stone as she had been working with witches to cast a terrible curse. That's how my mother and her stepmother came to a truce; they knew they had to stop it. _

"_Gothel." Regina made a fireball in her hand, ready to fire in defense. _

"_What the hell are you doing here?" Zelena said, creating a ball of magic in her hand._

"_Drizella warned you. On your child's eighth birthday—" _

"_We stopped Drizella!" My father protested as he kept his arms around me protectively. My mother joined, coming closer to us. _

_The witch went over to the stone Drizella and then used her magic, releasing her. Drizella took a deep breath and then turned to the witch. "Finally." She breathed and then looked at us, with clear anger on her face. "I warned all of you and now, there is nothing you can do to stop this curse." _

"_Get out of here!" Regina demanded._

"_I would savor this day." Gothel said. "As you won't be together much longer." Drizella smiled devilishly as she stood with the witches and then they vanished. _

"_Daddy?" I said. "What are we going to do?" I asked, feeling scared. I had everything I wanted and now it was going to be taken away. I didn't want to lose that. I didn't want to lose my family. _

"_Don't worry, it'll be okay." He told me and then I believed him. "We'll find a way."_

* * *

_Later that day, I rode with father on his motorcycle and we rode into the forest together. He showed me where one of the last enchanted trees were and then introduced me to his friend, Tiger Lily. She was a fairy whom was going to help us. He then explained the plan, how they were going to make this tree into a wardrobe and send me through it like Snow White and David did for Emma before. I didn't want to go. I felt afraid, very afraid. _

"_No." I protested._

"_Grandma Regina and Aunt Zelena and everyone are going to try everything they can. But the curse can't be stopped." Dad explained. "You and me have to escape to the land without magic. There we can get help and save everyone."_

"_What about mom?" I asked._

"_The wardrobe only has enough magic to send two." Tiger Lily told me._

"_I don't want to." I whined. I felt afraid and I didn't want to leave mom._

"_It's okay Lucy, I promise. We will find them." He tried to reassure me. "You know how?"_

"_Because family always finds each other." I said and he nodded. _

"_Now you go rest while I work on this." He said and I went with Tiger Lily into this cave to hide until it came time. It took me a while to get to sleep as I felt very scared. I wish my parents could be with me now but I knew they needed to do things elsewhere so the plan would work. So we would be safe and we could eventually save everyone. But then father came and woke me from my sleep early. _

"_They're coming." He said._

"_What are we going to do?" I asked. They had come early for us and I gathered that meant he didn't finish preparing the wardrobe. _

"_You need to run. I am going to hold them off for as long as I can. It will give you enough time to escape." He said drawing his sword._

"_I won't leave you." I protested. I didn't want to leave him. I wanted to help. I was afraid of what those witches would do to him._

"_You must, Lucy." He said. "It will be okay." He tried to reassure me but a part of me didn't believe him. I could tell he was scared. "Take this." He said putting this necklace in my hand. It was the birthday present that Emma sent for me. It had a picture of our family inside and it was engraved with my name on the back. I took it and held it tight. For some reason, I felt this may help keep me safe. He then handed me the storybook; the one he had as a kid. "Find your mother. They will keep you safe."_

"_Daddy." I said when I heard loud noises of the witches trying to break in._

"_I love you, Lucy." He said and kissed me. "Now go."_

_I ran as fast as I could and eventually Tiger Lily came for me, getting me out of the forest. And then I ran into the castle and found my mother. "Mother!" I called and then went into her arms. "They got father." I said, trying not to cry. "What do we do now?"_

"_Don't worry Lucy." Regina said. "We have a plan to stop them."_

_Next thing I knew, we went to where the witches were performing the spell and everyone brought something to fight with. I actually believed for a moment we were actually going to stop them. But I was wrong. They then revealed that they had not just taken my dad, but they had poisoned him and soon he would be dead. I started to cry. I was going to lose my dad. _

"_Henry." Regina cried as she held him in her arms._

"_Daddy." _

"_The only way to save him is a trip to a land without magic. So Regina, it is up to you. You can choose to cast the curse or not." Gothel said._

"_It only requires only one more ingredient. The blood from the witch that crushed the heart of thing she loved most. Your choice." Drizella said. "Cast my curse or your son dies."_

"_Daddy." I cried. I didn't want to lose him. _

"_Regina, you can't." Zelena said._

"_Don't do it." Dad choked out._

"_I have to." Regina said. She wasn't about to let her son die. _

"_You would do for Robin surely as I would for Alice." Hook said to Zelena._

_I stayed at my dad's side as Regina went to go cast the curse, cutting her hand so drops of her blood would drop into the pot. My dad turned his head slightly and looked at me. I looked up for a moment, seeing my mother place a hand on my shoulder and trying not to cry. I felt scared. Was I going to lose both my parents now? I didn't want that to happen. _

"_Don't…be…scared." Dad choked out. _

"_Henry, don't try and talk." Mom said and then looked to Hook. "What about Lucy? What will happen to her?"_

"_I don't know what will be of Henry." Hook said, but then handed an elephant piece to my mother. "If you take this, you and Lucy will be a mother and daughter in the curse. You'll have each other." I felt slightly relieved at hearing that I would have my mother, but I didn't want to be without father. I need him. _

"_Daddy, please don't leave me." I begged. I didn't want to be without him. I didn't want to be without both my parents. _

"_It…will…be…okay." Dad managed to say as he reached up slowly and stroked my cheek. "You'll…find…us. I know…you will." He seemed to have hope. "You can…break…the curse."_

"_I love you." I cried._

"_I…love you, Lucy." Dad said. "Remember…that."_

* * *

I shot up in bed and took in a few quick deep breaths. I looked around to see where I was; my eyes darting around the room. _I'm at the apartment, in my room. In Hyperion Heights. _Everything was here and this was real. "It was just a dream?" I said aloud, not really believing it. "No, it can't be." I said as I got out of bed and paced back in forth, trying to make sense of it all. If that was just a dream, how could it seem so real? If it was only a dream, how could I have known that the man was my father? It couldn't be a dream. In that castle, I felt like home. I had never felt that way about this place, not ever. That dream, it felt more like a memory. All my so-called my memories about my life here in the heights has always been fuzzy.

I went over to my desk and I went through a few drawers, looking for something. Though I wasn't sure what I was looking for exactly. But something to confirm this, somehow. And then suddenly, it hit me; on the top of my foot. I felt something drop out of the drawer and hit me on the top of my foot. I picked it up and noticed it was a necklace. _Why did it look so familiar? Have I seen this before? _I looked at it for a moment and then it dawned on me. It looked like the necklace from the dream that my father gave to me. The one that was a gift from one of my grandmothers. I attempted to pop it open and then inside it was a picture of my mother on one side and then on the other was that man from the dream; my father. _Could it be true?_ I closed it and then looked on the back to see if it was engraved like in the dream. It was; _Lucy Mills._

"It is true!" I exclaimed. It was true. It had to be true and this necklace confirmed it. My father isn't here, not because he doesn't love me, but because of the curse. He probably doesn't even know who he really is here just like my mother doesn't remember that she is Cinderella. We are all cursed; it made perfect sense.

"Lucy?" My mom came in and I put the necklace in my pocket. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm better than okay." I said, smiling.

"Listen about yesterday, I'm sorry, I really am. I should be more open to talking about your father, but it is difficult. Our relationship was complicated." My mom said and I nodded, knowing full well how complicated it had to be with this curse. "But I guess I can start by at least telling you his name." I nodded. "His name is Nick." She said and I frowned.

"No, it's not." I said.

My mom arched an eyebrow in obvious confusion. "Yes it is, Luce. I would remember."

"But it's not." I insisted. "My father's name is Henry."

"No, Lucy. It's not. I have never met a Henry in my life."

"Oh right, he probably has a different name here." I said. "Do you have a picture?"

My mom nodded and pulled up a Facebook profile. I frowned at seeing it wasn't the man from my dream. The man she pulled up, a lawyer named Nick, was a completely different person. I shook my head as my mom went on to explain why she didn't like to talk about him and how the whole thing went down. More specifically, the surprise pregnancy with me, which is what seemed to complicate everything. It was hard to listen because I knew it was all wrong.

"No, my father's name is Henry Mills and your name isn't Jacinda. It's Ella, because you're Cinderella." I said. "None of this is real. You don't remember because we are all cursed."

"Cursed? You mean, like in that book you love so much?" She said picking up the book from my desk. I took the book and looked it over, remembering how I read these stories practically a million times. I knew this book word for word. I looked on the back of the book and saw a picture of the author, Henry Mills. That was the man from my dream.

"I had a dream. We were in a castle and we were a family. He's my father. He's not here because witches poisoned him. The only way to save him was to cast a curse—to send us all here. He's not here because he probably doesn't remember." I explained.

"Everyone here is cursed?" My mom questioned and then chuckled slightly. "That's a crazy dream, Luce." I wasn't surprised when she didn't seem to believe me.

"It's true." I insisted.

"It was just a dream." My mom replied. "Though, considering how much you love this book, I can see why you would hope he would be your father, but he isn't. I have never even met this Henry Mills. Your father is a far different person. One that is much less attractive, for one."

"But—"

"Come on, Lucy, you need to get ready for school." My mom seemed to be done talking about it. "And I have to get to work. So hurry and please be good today."

I nodded and once I was left alone, I took out the necklace from my pocket and opened it, looking at the pictures of my mother and Henry Mills. I smiled slightly before closing the locket and then putting it around my neck. I held the necklace in the palm of hand for a moment and then looked at myself in the mirror. Though she may not believe me now, I knew it has to be true and I would have to find a way to make them believe it. I had that dream for a reason. I knew it was more than a dream; I just knew. In the book, Henry brought his biological mother, Emma Swan to Storybrooke to break the curse; he saved them. Now it is my turn. I had to find my father and bring him here to break the curse. I just have to get him to meet my mom and then maybe their true love will be enough to break the curse. I know that is what I will have to do. No matter what it takes to save them.

"I will find you dad." I said. "I promise."

* * *

**A/N: I also just adore Lucy and I have been wanting to write a Lucy-central story for a while. I finally got an idea and it written down. This is a slight AU since Lucy doesn't find out about the poisoning until later in season 7. **

**Please don't forget to review.**


End file.
